Lots to celebrate! New Year 2014’s knocking on the door + Lada Ray Blog is celebrating its 2nd anniversary, and to top it off, my blog has just hosted its one-hundred-thousand’s visitor! That’s over 100,000 people who enjoyed my thoughts, writing, photos and info! This makes me very happy indeed! GRIN! :D

Happy Anniversary, Lada Ray Blog!

Happy New Year 2014!

May this new year be filled with much joy, peace, love and beauty for all!

I thought that to mark the holiday and my first 100,000 visitors, I’d post some cool images of the New Year’s celebration in Russia and around the world.

First, a few fun history bits. How does Russia celebrate the New Year? In Russia, as in many other countries, the New Year is the main holiday of the year. It is a secular holiday. Meanwhile Russian religious Christmas is celebrated 2 weeks after Western Christmas, and one week after New Year’s, according to Russia’s Orthodox calendar.

The New Year Tree is normally put up just after Western Christmas (which reminds me, I should really start decorating mine). The New Year is celebrated with Ded Moroz (Father Frost – the equivalent of Santa Claus) and his granddaughter Snegurochka (Snow Maiden). There are usually festive and entertaining concerts during the New Year’s Eve, New Year’s night and on January 1, on TV, on Red Square, and in towns and cities around the country. There are many children’s “New Year Tree” parties, called in Russian “Yolochka.” And of course, a lavish New Year table and presents are a must!

It’s worth noting that New Year’s is celebrated this way not only in Russia proper, but also in many other places around the world which form the so called Russian Civilization, or Russian World. This, first and foremost, includes the former Soviet republics, but also the Russian-speaking populations in various countries, such as USA, Canada, Germany, UK and Israel, to name a few.

Russians love to party. It helps that the entire country gets 10 days off to celebrate. What is especially funny from the US perspective, considering the tiny American vacations, is that some Russians complain that this is too much time off, lol!

Some travel during this time, some go to parties, concerts, walks, or simply relax. As a non-drinker, I have to say that one Russian habit isn’t the coolest from my perspective: there are those who also drink way too much. Perhaps that’s why some feel that too much time on their hands prompts those who can’t control themselves to use it for drinking, instead of doing something productive. Of course, one might argue that alcohol warms an cheers you up during cold Russian winter.

Two weeks after the New Year and one week after Russian Orthodox Christmas (Rozhdestvo), there is another interesting holiday – The Old New Year, celebrated on January 14-15th. This is a left-over piece of the old Russian Grigorian calendar, where all holidays were 14 days later than Western calendar due to the leap year difference. The Old New Year is a nostalgic and meditative time, when many reflect on the past and plan for the future.

Also, one of the sacred New Year traditions is watching classic Russian New Year’s comedies, which we observe religiously in our household as well. And how can you not watch these magical masterpieces, together with their wonderful songs, if they never get old, and never fail to put you in a joyful, wonderful, holiday spirit! The most beloved New Year comedies are The Irony of Fate, or Enjoy Your Banya (Ironiya Sudbi, ili S Legkim Parom, 1975) and Carnival Night (Karnavalnaya Noch, 1956), both by the same director, Eldar Ryazanov.

To celebrate my 2nd anniversary and my first 100,000 visitors, I have set up the new Russia Resources section on my blog, where you’ll find links to all my articles about Russia, as well as videos of Russian hit songs from different eras, including some from beloved films, as well as from charming children’s movies and cartoons. The links are at the bottom of this post. I’ll have more, including famous Russian comedies, soon!

S NOVIM GODOM! Happy New Year! ¡Feliz Año Nuevo!

And now, the New Year celebrations in Russia and beyond – in pics!

Celebrating the New Year on Red Square

Russians celebrate the New Year with personal mini-fireworks, while enjoying the big party

For the winter, a part of Red Square turns into the largest skating rink in Europe

Russian children love Ded Moroz (Father Frost)

Ded Moroz in a traditional Russian sleigh in St. Petersburg, Russia

Ded Moroz riding traditional Russian Troika

Usually Ded Moroz greets the children with his granddaughter, Snegurochka

I love the idea of a New Year tree. You pictures are wonderful as always. Congratulations on 100,000 visitors to your blog. Wishing you a fabulous holiday season and look forward to your posts in 2014!

Very beautiful images, Lada! Such a Russian New Year spirit! :)
I’m really delighted you wrote this post and shared our traditions with the world. Indeed this is the brightest holiday of the year and I’m looking forward to December 31. This year I’m finally celebrating New Year at home with Soviet champagne, Russian salad, decorated pinetree and Irony of Fate and Carnival Night on TV! ;)

Together with this, congrats on your outstanding writing achievements and cheers to all your readers! :)

How awesome to hear that you are back with your loving family for New Year’s, Sofyika! I’m a little jealous – but in the best possible way – and happy for you, too! Enjoy the New Year’s goodies! Glad they show Russian movies in Kiev, Ukraine. Hopefully, it’s not as bad over there as we are shown here. Me – miss Russian TV terribly, but I catch a glimpse of New Year’s concerts and shows on Youtube whenever some kind soul posts them. ;)

Happy and beautiful New Year 2014 to you and your family.
S Novim Godom!

Congratulations on 100,000 views. I loved the beautiful pictures of Russia and all of its traditions. I bought myself a copy of Earth Shifter for Christmas. Looking forward to reading it! Have a very Happy New Year. And, I love the idea of a New Year trees.

Oh, how nice, Patricia! :) Thank you for stopping by, and thank you for buying my book!
Yes, the New Year Tree is a fun tradition in my opinion too.
Many happy wishes to you and yours in the New Year 2014!

Awesome pictures… WOW… It’s so nice to be able to see such beautiful pictures of a place I’ll never be able to visit. All of the information is so nice to see also. I had no idea, well, probably because I just never did think about it, but it’s wonderful to see such amazing celebrations.

Lada, Loved the post. Great pictures along with it. Living here in Russia isn’t entirely easy but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Even the little things amaze me. Like a couple of days ago I’m riding on the bus (a great source of entertainment and understanding) when this older gal gets on and is standing in this little section next to the doorway. She’s dressed to the tee’s, very elegant looking. At the next stop two younger ladies get on and stand next to her. Shortly after they entered one of these gals is putting something in her bag when the bottom tears open and things fall out. One young man bends down to help and they do too. But the elderly lady what does she do? She opens her purse and pulls out another neatly folded bag, she unfolds it, holds it open in front of the two younger gals to which they politely accept. They put their stuff in the bag, thank her and off they went at the next stop. Me, to my delight got to experience one of the small things that strangers do for one another here. When I see these things happen I always ask myself would someone do the same in the states? I would like to believe so. When we look at the hard exterior sometimes that Russians display it needs to be understood they only present this to the world. Who they are is truly warm and friendly people who will dig deep into their purses when need be. The true Russian soul isn’t something they pridefully carry but with a humbleness that is genuine. Thanks for sharing this post. It should remind us all what the true message of Christmas is.

Hello, Steve, and Happy New Year! S Novim Godom!
What a wonderfully heart-warming story you’ve shared! Thank you! This is lovely and very true to Russia. I remember when I was young and we had to move several times back in Russia, all friends would show up to help carry furniture and other stuff, help clean-up, cook, etc. As a result, any move would be much less stressful. I miss that feeling of friendship and a shoulder terribly here.

Thank you for linking up to your post as well! I think your blog is very useful and very important to help people of different cultures understand each other, to stop warring and arguing, and to finally grasp that we all need to become global citizens, that we have one planet that we all share and that we should all love each other!

Dear readers, please check out Steve’s awesome blog: ‘Life in Russia – A bridge between two countries.’ It’s well worth it! (Steve is an American expat living and working in Russia.Click on his name above for a link to his blog!)

What is truly amazing is that this is one of many little nippets of what I’ve seen here. The other one that sticks out in my mind is last winter I was walking home when an elderly woman came out a building and began to walk down the ramp (which was covered with snow and ice) she slipped and fell. Not seeing anyone else I advanced towards her ready to give her a hand up, before I reached her two other young men (strangers) showed up out of nowhere (honestly have no idea where they came from) all three of us proceeded to help her up. When we were done it was only glances to one another, it was understood that she was now okay and we parted (a touching of the wide Russian soul). Each time I see this I examine my origins and ask this same question, would anyone come to her aid if this happened in the states? I’m afraid my thoughts at that time really didn’t think so. I fear for a country who has lost it’s ability to care for others in such simple instances. I reflect now on a distant past and hold on with a small glimmer of hope that we all remember we don’t have to recognized for what we do. Just do it because it’s the right thing. Blessing to you. Remember your home is where your heart is.

Hi Steve :). That’s another great example. Thank you for sharing! And this is so true for all of us – home is where the heart is.
Just one observation. You say you are not sure if anyone would have helped her if this happened in the States. I don’t know… But YOU were there and YOU helped, and because of you, I’m sure, a number of Russians now feel much better about Americans. In the final analysis, that’s what’s important!

Since we are on this topic, I once posted a video, entitled “Beautiful Compilation of Random Acts of Kindness that Won’t Leave Anyone Untouched.” On dash-cams in Russia were caught many acts of random kindness towards people and animals. These selfless acts were posted on Youtube as one video, which went viral.

I know such things are not new to you, but I thought I’d post the link here for the benefit of all my readers. It’s a very inspiring video. The most interesting thing is that over there no one thinks anything of it – it’s just done as a matter of course. I myself only noticed what I’d lost after I started suffering from lack thereof in the US.

Happy New Year to you Lada! May 2014 be a year that’s filled with all good things. Congratulations on the first 100,000 visitors to your blog. Love your writing and the pictures, as always. The Russians do look as though they know how to bring in the New Year, so much colour! :-)